Lost Goan women trekkers rescued by Karnataka forest officials

Panaji, Aug 29 (IANS) Seven women, including six minors, who had gone missing on Monday while trekking in the picturesque Chorla area in Western Ghats along the Karnataka-Goa border, were rescued by Karnataka Forest Department officials on Tuesday after a massive combing operation, an official said.

Deputy Conservator of Forests, Belgavi range, B.V Patil told IANS that over 200 forest personnel were involved in the combing operation, which eventually led to the rescue of the trekkers and an unofficial guide, who had accompanied the Goan trekking party.

"We had mobilised a search and rescue mission and managed to trace them in a forested area in Karnataka near Chorla. After their rescue, the members of the trekking party were medically examined before being sent back to Goa," he said.

The seven trekkers, who hail from Ribandar and Porvorim areas near Panaji, had left for the Western Ghats on a trek with a guide, before they got lost in the forest and wandered into Karnataka, Patil said.

"We got a wireless message about the group of Goan trekkers going missing, following which we started searching the forest areas near the border. One of our guards managed to locate them and escorted them to the Belgavi-Goa highway," Patil said, adding that the Goa Chief Minister's office which was following-up on the search and rescue operation has been informed about the rescue.

The Western Ghats, which flank Goa on the eastern border, is a popular haunt for trekkers, especially in the monsoons, when the region comes alive with springs, foliage and wild-life. The Chorla area, where the borders of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra converge, is also a part of the tiger corridor.

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